How much does it matter if a lawmaker’s colleagues are indifferent about him in Congress?
According to Rep. Shri Thanedar, a wealthy lawmaker who represents Michigan’s 13th Congressional District and who has become one of the left’s targets, not much. The popularity contest that matters is among voters rather than his congressional peers.
On Tuesday, voters will choose between Thanedar and Donavan McKinney, a young, Black state lawmaker and democratic socialist who grew up poor in Detroit.
The House primary has flashes of the different identity crises Democrats are facing this year: How left is too left? Is being an incumbent a net negative when voters are this angry? How important is racial representation?
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Then there’s the one unique twist: Not even Thanedar’s colleagues know what to make of him, which he concedes.
“It’s not like a high school,” Thanedar, acknowledging apathy from his colleagues about his primary challenge, told NOTUS. “I’m not trying to be the most popular member of Congress.”
Thanedar, who emigrated from India in 1979 and worked as a janitor until he became a pharmaceutical executive, is arguing that he should keep his job in Congress because he understands the struggles his district faces. While some of his colleagues have said that they do not care whether he leaves Congress, he has the backing of party leaders, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar.
“My constituents know my story,” Thanedar said. “They know my struggles, and I am more like Detroit because Detroit has struggled, but Detroit never gives up.”
McKinney, meanwhile, is campaigning on “Medicare for All,” a Green New Deal and ending American military aid to Israel. He’s backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), numerous state lawmakers, local government officials and progressive groups like Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats.
His campaign is hoping to carry the momentum created by progressive victories across the country, including in several New York City House primaries and Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, to a battleground state.
“People think this movement is just in New York or just in California or just in certain states,” McKinney said. “This is across the board, and you can win purple states like Michigan. You can win in Middle America. You can win in toss-up country.”
One example of how much he’s leaning into the anti-incumbency sentiment is his reluctance to support Jeffries as speaker of the House if Democrats win the chamber.
“I don’t have a decision yet. I just want a conversation,” he said. He added that while he’d love to see a Black speaker, he wonders if Jeffries can help Democrats keep the majority next cycle. “How long does he want to be speaker if he actually gets elected speaker?”
Other primary races in Michigan are also testing how progressives perform in a purple state. Climate activist Will Lawrence is hoping to defeat two centrist Democrats in a swing district — but if he pulls it off, Democrats are wary of his chances of beating Republican Rep. Tom Barrett. The state’s marquee Senate primary also has establishment Democrats sweating over whether their pick, Rep. Haley Stevens, will beat out progressive Abdul El-Sayed.
But this primary is where groups like Justice Democrats, who tapped McKinney as its first recruit of the cycle, are hoping to close the loop.
“[This primary] embodies the entire fight that we are having in the broader Democratic Party right now, which is — are we going to be a party that is represented by multimillionaires serving the interests of billionaires, or are we going to let working class communities be represented by working class people?” said Usamah Andrabi, the group’s spokesperson.
Many Democrats in the district think Thanedar secured his last two wins because the Black vote was split among multiple candidates, making this head-to-head matchup a serious threat to the incumbent.
The race isn’t a clean split between progressives and establishment Democrats. The district has a long history of Black representation, and that has prompted several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, like Reps. Summer Lee (D-Pennsylvania) and Steven Horsford (D-Nevada), to break with Jeffries and other party leaders in endorsing McKinney over their colleague.
Several Black state lawmakers in Michigan are also rallying behind McKinney. The Supreme Court’s dismantling key protections of the Voting Rights Act and the elimination of majority-minority districts around the country through redistricting are motivating voters to support him, McKinney said.
“Allies are allies, but unless you’ve lived what I’ve lived, you won’t be able to advocate the way I’m able to advocate,” said state Rep. Stephanie Young, chair of the Detroit Caucus in the statehouse and a McKinney supporter.
Thanedar said that Black constituents supporting him in the race are doing so because of his track record.
“For them, it’s not about the race of the candidate. It’s about who can help them, who can bring more federal dollars home,” he said. “Their concern is about who can fight hardest against Trump, and there’s nobody fighting harder than me against Trump and the Trump administration.”
He also has six members of the CBC backing him, including Reps. Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) and Cleo Fields (D-Louisiana).
Asked if he wished he had more support from members of Congress, Thanedar said, “No, no, I have plenty.”
There’s also the matter of financing.
While Thanedar largely self-financed his campaign, he has been criticized by his opponent for being financially supported by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and crypto industry. Thanedar rejected the idea that he is indebted to corporate donors and pointed to progressive super PACs like American Priorities, a pro-Palestine super PAC meant to counter AIPAC, spending on McKinney’s behalf.
Thanedar’s campaign had about $5 million in the bank on July 15, according to a pre-primary Federal Election Commission report, and he loaned his campaign $2.1 million. McKinney has raised $1.3 million and had nearly $143,000 in the bank as of July 15.
For McKinney, funding is a key part of his pitch of why he should replace Thanedar in Congress.
“This election is about the many versus the money,” he said.
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